Jets at Rangers
Less than a month into the season, the Winnipeg Jets are missing seven players who were on their Opening Night roster, but they nonetheless enter Sunday’s game against the host New York Rangers with 11 points in their first 11 contests. The Jets pulled off yet another surprising comeback Friday at Detroit, getting the first two goals of Brandon Tanev's career in the final eight minutes en route to a 5-3 triumph.
“The resiliency of this group is incredible,” Tanev told reporters after his tallies complimented a four-point effort from Nikolaj Ehlers one night after the Jets endured a tough overtime defeat at Washington. The Rangers, who possess one of the best offenses in the league, topped Boston 5-2 on Saturday for their fourth win in a row and seventh in their last eight contests. New York averages 4.2 goals per contest and has scored 21 times during its current four-game winning streak, getting short-handed tallies from Derek Stepan and Kevin Hayes in Saturday's victory. After facing Winnipeg and Vancouver (on Tuesday) at home, the Rangers play five of their next six on the road.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360 (Winnipeg), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE JETS (5-6-1): After placing defenseman Tyler Myers on injured reserve, losing Shawn Matthias to a lower-body injury and scratching Mathieu Perreault, Joel Armia and blue-liner Mark Stuart from Friday’s lineup, Winnipeg reshuffled its lines and snapped its three-game winless streak. Patrik Laine scored his seventh goal of the season, keeping the rookie among the league leaders, and Mark Scheifele recorded a three-point performance. The Jets have not surrendered a power-play goal in four of their last five contests.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (9-3-0): New York is the second team to register nine wins (Montreal has 21 points) and Stepan produced another big effort in Saturday’s victory, recording one goal and two assists to give him five points in his last three contests. Michael Grabner netted a tally and set up another versus Boston, giving him seven points in his last four games. Antti Raanta stopped 35-of-37 shots Saturday, but the Rangers likely will turn to Henrik Lundqvist – who posted his first shutout of the season on Thursday – in net Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. New York entered Saturday as the only team in the NHL to have seven or more players with four or more goals.
2. Winnipeg G Connor Hellebuyck is 2-1-0 in his last three starts, allowing seven goals on 99 shots.
3. Lundqvist has turned aside 128-of-138 shots in going 4-1-0 with a shutout in his last five starts.